ONLINE SAX LESSON

THE ONLINE SAX LESSON WAS SET UP IN 1999. IT WAS DESIGNED FOR COMMUNICATING WITH STUDENTS, WORKING THROUGH NEW IDEAS AND WAS AN EARLY ATTEMPT AT WEB DESIGN. THE ORIGINAL SITE IS STILL ARCHIVED HERE. IT IS A BIT RAMBLING, BUT INCLUDES A LOT OF FREE INFORMATION.

NEW!! AUGUST 2005
Tubby vs. Morny
TO CHECK OUT THE TUBBY HAYES SOLO TRANSCRIPTION ON 'OPUS OCEAN' RECORDED IN NEW YORK IN 1961
CLICK HERE
TO SEE MORNINGTON'S SOLO TRANSCRIPTION ON 'OPUS OCEAN' FROM THE NEW JAZZ COURIERS' 'AZULE SERAPÉ' ALBUM RECORDED IN LONDON IN 2004
CLICK HERE

FROM THE ORIGINAL ONLINE SAXOPHONE LESSON

EXCERPT FROM JOHN COLTRANE'S CADENZA ON 'I WANT TO TALK ABOUT YOU'

The cadenza, from 'Live at Birdland' in 1963, is still as mind-blowing for me as the first first time I heard it. This excerpt is interesting, since it doesn't involve any of the 'textbook' Coltrane formulas (Giant Steps progressions, diminished scale, whole tone, tritone substitution etc... ), but instead seems to use a cycle of minor 7th arpeggios a major third apart: Gm7-Ebm7-Bm7. The Ebm7 arpeggio may have a tritone substitution ring about it (Gm - Gb13?), but the Bm7 shape definitely puts a spanner in the works, as far as any kind of Gm7-C7 functionality is concerned. I like the asymmetry, with 4, 5 and 6 note groupings, offsetting the symmetry of the major third axis.

This part of the construction appears to loop back on itself:

Coltrane also changes direction within the axis. Rather than simply follow the sequence: Bm-Ebm-Gm-Bm and so on, here he goes Bm-Ebm-Gm-Ebm-Gm-Bm. If you were looking for some new stuff to practice, you could make up loops and patterns by transposing the segment above by a major third in each direction, and combining the three phrases, using the possible combinations and changes of direction.

 VISIT THE ORIGINAL ONLINE SAX LESSON

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